Venezuela’s government urged opposition leader María Corina Machado to change tack and make a positive contribution to the oil-rich South American country’s political process and economic recovery.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, in rare remarks to reporters Monday, said she hoped Machado would show “regret, remorse and a change of course” upon her return to Caracas after more than a year in exile abroad. Asked whether the opposition leader should be held accountable for past actions against state institutions, Rodríguez said “there is no political persecution in Venezuela.”Rodríguez dismissed Machado’s return on Sunday, which saw her travel by land through five states over 11 hours with crowds of jubilant supporters gathering along the route, as an unnecessary “show” that could have been avoided.

“Politics as a spectacle must come to an end, because politics is a very serious matter — it concerns the lives of citizens,” Rodríguez said, adding Machado could have instead entered through one Venezuela’s airports.

The comments are the first indication of how Rodríguez’s government will respond to Machado’s unexpected return. How much freedom the opposition leader is given to organize and mobilize will be a key test of the US-backed political opening in Venezuela that’s begun since President Donald Trump ordered the capture of authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro at the start of the year.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, one of the key architects of state repression under Maduro, echoed Rodríguez’s message at a separate press conference a short while later. “There is no persecution here,” Cabello said when asked about Machado. “Stop the show. Take responsibility for what you said and did.”Machado’s return has added pressure to define an electoral timeline with Washington convening negotiations between Rodríguez’s government and a faction of the opposition. The process had largely advanced without Machado, whose ability to draw crowds could reshape the dynamics of the transition.